3D printing is not suitable for technical components or prototypes – additive manufacturing can also be used in the fashion industry or for the production of jewelry. For particularly beautiful results, we recommend jewelry printing with gold. Even particularly fine or detailed decorations are no problem – the perfect solution to quickly and easily create your own luxurious jewelry collection to get.
Advantages include abrasion resistance or skin compatibility – and of course the exclusive design. There are now various methods for producing objects from or with gold using 3D printing. We will present these to you and give an outlook on which processes will be exciting in the future.
3D printing with gold is particularly suitable for jewelryContents
1) 3D print of the gold mold
Until now, gold 3D printing has worked in the same way as silver 3D printing, i.e. as a combination of additive manufacturing and traditional blacksmithing. The drafts of the later 3D models are in wax printed. From this, a cast is made in plaster or ceramics, which is then heated in a blast furnace. The liquid gold is then poured into this mold where it is allowed to cool in the shape previously defined in the 3D files.
This possible gold 3D printing process is of course still used in the world of jewelry printing. For example, gold with 14 or 18 carats in yellow gold is possible. One of the biggest disadvantages is the high cost.
2) Epoxy objects metallized with gold
With this approach, the object itself is not made of gold, but a layer of gold is applied to a 3D printed model, made of PA plastic, for example. The advantage is obvious: the costs are much lower and the gold look is still there. The process of metallizing is similar to that of electroplating, but an even higher quality finish is created.
Epoxy object refined with goldFor example, 3D Activation successfully applied this technique to the golden 3D printed dress by artist Pia Hinze, which was shown at New York Fashion Week, among others.
3) Gold 3D printing by selective laser sintering
The innovation in gold 3D printing comes from the Netherlands: Researchers at the University of Twente have now also succeeded in printing gold using the selective laser sintering method known from PA processing. (see press release, June 2015). This 3D printing process, which is based on the local fusing of individual layers using a laser beam, has been known to 3D printing connoisseurs for some time. Normally, however, selective laser sintering (also known as SLS printing) is used in the 3D printing processing of PA plastics.
Droplet-based gold 3D printing
First of all, the main problem with gold 3D printing (like other metals) is its high melting temperature. For this problem, the Dutch researchers have a solution in the form of a pulsed laser found, which heats a small area of a thin metal film to such an extent that a small droplet detaches from the film. This now drips onto a substrate, which serves as the basis for the actual process of selective laser sintering.
In order to give the droplets the highest possible speed, a comparatively high-energy laser beam is used. The speed of the droplets is by no means primarily used to accelerate the printing process, rather it decisively optimizes their shape. The gold droplets accelerated in this way become namely disk shaped and hard in this form, which significantly improves the stability of the 3D printed structure.
Aiming at the gold droplets biggest challenge
A technical challenge that still needs to be overcome with this technology lies in the marksmanship the gold droplet. With such a powerful laser, it has hitherto been almost unavoidable that a few drops will end up next to the desired point. This problem still needs to be solved, which the research team from Twente is of course working hard on.
Have we aroused your interest in 3D printing with precious metals? Visit our website and get to know our wide range in the fascinating field of metal printing – or contact us, we will be happy to help you implement your 3D printing project!